That's what Family's for
by Crazy4Moony
Summary: Near has a bad dream, and although it's un-Near-like of him, he needs Mello and Matt to comfort him. And of course, they're more than willing to help.


**That's what family's for.**

**AN: Sorry for any errors that might have been made**

When Near woke up he was bathing in sweat and his hands were clamping onto the sheets—it was not good. His head hurt and horrible images played behind his eyelids. A nightmare—maybe he was too old for this, but are you ever? The pain never stops coming, no matter how surreal it might be. He hugged his fluffed raccoon closer, and tried to sleep again, but his breath was too loud and his heartbeat too fast.

He heard a ringing laugh and recognised it as Mello's—he and Matt always stayed up late. Near pushed the blankets from his damp body, and swung his legs out of the bed. He knew he shouldn't be disturbing them in their happy moments—but he was scared and they were still up and just across the hallway.

When he walked over to the door he noticed he was shaking—could barely even stand on his feet—and he frowned. It was only a dream, he shouldn't be this shocked. He had those all the times, they weren't evil, nor did they become reality. He tried to snap out of it, failed, and stumbled over to the door—how un-Near-like of him.

When he reached Mello and Matt's room, the door was opened a bit, and he tried to regain composure, and knocked. Mello's laughing stopped, and Matt said silently: "come in."

Near could hear by his tone that he knew it was him—and by the way they looked at him when he entered the room, and closed the door behind him, he knew they knew something bad had happened.

"Near?" Mello sat up a bit, flopping off of Matt's body, and Near felt sorry.

He'd obviously disturbed them in a very intimate moment. Mello had no shirt on, only his pyjama-trousers, and Matt was in just his boxers. They were both in Matt's one-person bed in the corner, and looked a bit flustered.

"What happened?" Mello's voice shook him from his thoughts, and the blonde outstretched a hand. "Come here."

Matt scooped a bit closer to the wall, and Near waggled a bit clumsily over to their bed—he really was afraid, no matter how childish and not-Near-like that might be. Taking Mello's hand, he was pulled onto the bed, and Mello pulled the blankets on top of him.

"What's wrong Near?" Matt asked, as Mello shifted his body so Near could crawl in between the two older boys.

"I..." Near blushed a bit, and Matt smiled encouragingly at him. "I had a bad dream."

Matt hugged him kindly, ruffling his pale hair. Near sniffled—he didn't want to, but couldn't help it.

"That's okay Near," Mello said, and looked at the small boy. "It's only normal you have those—it's not because you're a genius that you don't have them."

"And you know they're not real." Matt said, cuddling him close against his bare chest.

Near nodded, still holding onto Mello's hand. He knew they were right—it was normal he had these dreams, and they weren't real. But that didn't make them less scary.

"And it's okay to be afraid," Mello said, as if he could read Near's mind—it wasn't the first time Mello told him this, but Near always needed reassurance. "Sometimes dreams are very hard to separate from reality, and it's only normal these nightmares leave their mark."

"Yeah," Matt nodded. "The racing heart and the sweaty clothes, it's completely normal Near, so don't feel bad about it."

"But," Near said weekly, sniffling slightly again. "I disturbed you."

Mello grinned and winked at Matt.

"Rubbish," he said, and crawled deeper under the blankets, closer to the two other boys. "We don't mind Near—we're family, we're meant to help each other out. That's what we're here for."

"If we wouldn't be prepared to help you, we'd be lousy family," Matt smiled, and one of his hands released Near and settled on Mello's leg. "You can always come to us—even if you think we might be... busy."

Near nodded, and Mello bent forward a bit, kissing his forehead kindly.

"You stay with us tonight, and I'm sure you'll sleep just fine." He said silently.

Matt kissed his head too, and they moved around a bit. Near rolled himself up into a ball, holding both Matt and Mello's hand tightly into his, and fell asleep soon. He was settled between the other boys, near their stomachs, since he was so small.

Matt glanced down at him once, and then looked at Mello, who'd closed his eyes too.

"Mells?" He whispered, and Mello gave a curt nod. "I love you—but don't think I've forgotten your promise," Mello grinned. "I get your ass tomorrow!"

He turned around, making sure not to alarm Near, moved a bit closer, until his head was next to Matt's—he lay a bit crocked now, body bent into a weird position.

"I wouldn't dream of forgetting my promise Mattie, you know I'm a man of my word!" he whispered against Matt's lips. Matt breathed in deeply, inhaling Mello's scent. "Though it's a bit improper of you to mention it when Near's in distress."

"He's sleeping." Matt objected, but Mello clacked his tongue.

Matt's free hand was still settled on Mello's leg, and it ran up to his thigh. When Mello opened one eye to look at the redhead, he crashed their lips together.

They parted rather reluctantly, afraid to go any further, in case things got a bit too serious and they couldn't restrain themselves anymore—which would be very bad, since Near was there and he'd already been thoroughly shaken by his nightmare.

And not long after they fell asleep too, with the pale boy sleeping in between their warm bodies. As Near secretly watched the two share their kiss, he had only one thought left in his sleep-clouded brain—_that's what family's for._

**AN: Hah. I really liked writing that It was nice to write something short like that... not sure if it's any good though. Review? Will give you cO.Oties if you don't! Evil laugh**


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